The City Mouse and the Country Mouse
by Irhaboggles
Summary: She had spent her entire life in the country, but when the desire for something more overtook her, she decided to venture into the city. There, she got quite a lot more than she bargained for, but by far the best part of it all was a new friend. And even better? That new friend was coming home with her to visit the countryside!
1. The City Mouse and the Country Mouse

The country mouse had spent her whole life on a farm. She lived the stereotypical life, spending her days in a barn or a cornfield and spending her nights out on a moonlit lake or an old dusty backroad, but she was happy with that life. Although it was simplistic, it was beautiful, and she wouldn't have traded it for anything in the entire world. She liked the golden cornfields and the scarlet barn. She liked the crystal skies and the summer sun. She liked the freedom and nature. She liked the untamed aura that her simple life on the countryside gave her.

But there finally came a time when the country mouse did begin to hunger for more. She wished to expand her horizons and see what lay beyond the barn. She wished to explore and grow, so she finally dared to take leave of her country life and head towards the city. It was only for a short while, a little adventure, but it still felt very big to her. On her travels, she met a city mouse, a beautiful individual who had spent her whole life hopping from city to city. This one, National City, was her latest home, but she had also taken up residence in Metropolis and NYC. She was an expert in all things urban. She knew all the tips, twists and tricks to surviving city life and she knew all the best places to go and what to avoid and how to do it all with ease.

She became the country mouse's closest and favorite companion while in the city. The city was rather intimidating to the country mouse and although she had craved this level of adventure, it was still nice to find a friendly face amongst the sea of others and she was quick to latch onto the city mouse, following her around everywhere and gladly listening to her talk about city life for hours and hours on end. The two unlikely friends grew incredibly close in their short week together and the country mouse learned a great deal from the city mouse.

But as impressive as the city was, the country mouse was given her name for a very good reason. She was still a country girl at heart and the allure of the big city was still not as strong as her love for the wild and great outdoors. It was what she had missed the most while in the city: that feeling of freedom. The city was not cramped, but to a girl who had spent her life under an endless sky in an endless sea of corn, it felt very tight indeed. That was why, when it was finally time for the country mouse to go home, there was no hesitancy in her step as she headed back to her beautiful barn and farmland. She was happier there, under the bright blue sky. The city was just too... decadent. It was almost _too_ exciting and loud for her to enjoy for too long. But if there was one thing that the country mouse would miss, it would be her new companion, the city mouse.

And the city mouse expressed her own desire to see the country mouse again as well, going so far as to suggest following the country mouse back down to her home to visit. It would be a role-reversal. The city mouse had gotten to show the country mouse around the big city, so now the country mouse was going to show the city mouse around the rural world. The idea delighted the country mouse, because she was sure her new friend would fall just as deeply in love with the country as she had. Now, she would have the two things she loved most in the word (her farmland and her new friend) united. What more could the young country mouse hope for?

Things did not go quite that smoothly, however, for although the city mouse loved the country mouse enough to accompany her on her trip back to the great outdoors, it quickly became apparent that the city mouse had no taste or skill for living a life so far apart from the rest of society. Although she did try her best, it was painfully clear to the country mouse and the rest of her family that the city mouse felt lonely here, and cut off from the rest of the world. She was just too used to city life, to hustle and bustle, to endless noise and lights. The country was too still and silent for her, not stimulating enough. And it was, admittedly, a step down in terms of luxury. The city had been quite grand, and almost all of its other inhabitants were quite pampered. The country life was too simple, plain and low for a city mouse to be able to get used to in the span of one week.

But the city mouse still found beauty in the countryside. It was peaceful, pleasant, calm and serene. Sure, it was a bit too hot, empty and buggy for her taste, but it was not unbearable. And she grew quite fond of the country mouse's family, envious because she, herself, had no close relatives to call upon the way the country mouse did. But the country mouse was quick to invite the city mouse into the family, sharing meals with her and bringing her on family adventures. They raced through the cornfields and explored the barn together. They marveled at the other farm animals that roamed the pastures nearby. The country mouse earned a new world and a new family from the visit.

She could not stay forever, however, and just like the country mouse had before, she was forced to go home. It was a very bittersweet parting because even though both parties agreed to keep in contact and see one another again, it would not be easy. This constant back and forth between city and countryside took a lot of time, money, effort and coordination on both sides, and it would become quite tedious and strenuous to have to go to such great lengths just for a quick visit. But neither mouse wished to give up on the other, so they opted to continue the visits even if it wouldn't be easy. So they did. For a few years, they traveled back and forth all in the name of seeing one another again, but then it was the country mouse's sister who got an idea. She suggested that the two of them move in together in the suburbs, in a comfy, cozy little place between the two worlds. That way, each mouse would have a bit of home and they would no longer need to take long journeys to visit one another.

If the two lived in the suburbs, they would have the best of both worlds and they would be able to meet in the middle. There would be enough country for the country mouse and enough city for the city mouse and since the suburbs were right between the country and city, visits to either destination would be much easier and faster now than trying to go from one extreme to the other. It was a splendid idea and they wasted no time in putting it into action. The county and city mice settled down happily in a nice little suburban neighborhood, the city mouse running her company from afar while the country mouse managed to find enough adventure to help her grow, while also retaining enough of that sweet country life to keep her from getting homesick or feeling lost in a world far too big for her to handle. It was the perfect compromise! But to the pair, the best part of all was the fact that they were now able to see one another every day for the rest of their lives. Now that they lived together, the city mouse and the country mouse would never need to part again and, as far as they were concerned, that was the most important thing of all.

**AN: Based on the fable of the same name (erring more on the side of the Beatrix Potter version), this is an AU both on Supergirl and the fable. In this one, Kara doesn't necessarily have powers and the geography of the world is very inaccurate (also, I know Kara didn't grow up on a farm, but for the sake of this AU, let's say that she did). This is a prelude/summary chapter. I'll post a more detailed version of the story soon.**


	2. The City

"Oh! Fudgesicles!" Kara cursed under her breath as she found herself stuck at a turnstile. Today was just not her day. First, she'd gotten lost several times trying to find this subway (she took a wrong road, a wrong bus and then another wrong road before finally finding the semi-hidden entrance to this underground travel system). Then she'd nearly hopped onto the wrong train (she was supposed to be headed uptown but had instead almost taken a downtown-bound track) and now here she was, finally sort of in the right place, but now her metro card was acting up.

"Come on! Work! You stupid thing!" the Danvers whined as she swiped the card over and over again through the machine, but the metal bar blocking her path refused to yield. She could see a glowing sign up ahead, reading that her train was going to depart in about two minutes, and she was stuck at the stupid freaking gate! She gave a cry of frustration, seconds away from just jumping over the gate, when someone finally came to her aid. The person in question got her attention by tapping her shoulder.

"I'm trying! Ok?! Give me a sec! My card won't work!" Kara snapped on reflex as she whipped around. She had heard about how impatient city folk could be, but she really did not need to be on the receiving end of "Can't you hurry it along? I'm late for a meeting!" at the moment. She bristled, feeling frustrated tears burning her eyes, but the moment she got a look at the person who had tapped on her shoulder, her mind short-circuited. It was another woman, maybe a couple years younger and a few inches shorter than herself. She had long dark hair pulled back in a tight bun and she had gray-green eyes. She wore a white blouse and black pencil skirt and heels. There was nothing but concern and sympathy in her eyes and she didn't seem the least bit put off by Kara's angry response.

"I was merely offering to help you through," she said instead, voice low and silky. She extended her own metro card and swiped it for Kara. The turnstile buzzed and the metal bars unlocked. Kara nearly missed her chance to go through, however, because she was so entranced by her savior. All the helpless, hopeless blond could do was stare into those gray-green eyes, admiring the shorter woman's figure and gentle expression. It was only when the woman coughed a little and pointed at the turnstile that Kara managed to get a grip long enough to clear her own throat awkwardly and move forward.

"Thanks," she grunted, face turning red as she turned around and pushed through the metal bar. Finally, it yielded for her and she was able to pass safely to the other side. The gate buzzed a second time and the dark-haired woman was there again.

"Do you need help finding your train too?" the woman asked as she joined Kara on the other side of the turnstile.

"N-n-no! I'm fine! I got it!" Kara replied with a nervous smile, but only half a second later, she changed her mind. "Actually, yeah, never mind, I could definitely use the help..." she gave a sheepish smile that the woman brushed off easily.

"Where are you headed?" she asked.

"L-Corp," Kara replied.

"L-Corp?" the woman sounded surprised.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to be interviewing their CEO, Lena Luthor?" Kara explained. The woman gave her a curious look, an unreadable smile, but said nothing. Instead, she gestured for Kara to follow her along.

"I'm headed to L-Corp as well," she said as she led Kara through the bustling underground.

"Oh! You're an employee then?" Kara asked, secretly relieved to know that this kind woman was going to the same place she was. She didn't trust herself to follow verbal directions so knowing that her guide was going to be able to follow her every step of the way was a huge relief.

"Yes," the woman replied, but her tone of voice seemed to imply that there was more to the answer than a simple "yes". Kara, however, didn't dare ask, sensing that the woman did not wish to tell her, and Kara knew she had to right to demand information from a woman who had been so kind as to take her under her wing. Finally, things seemed to be looking up for the young Danvers!

Kara had been born and raised in a rather country-ish area. It wasn't necessarily out in the middle of nowhere, but she had never been to a city before. To have to leave a small town behind in favor of this giant metropolis was a bit frightening for her. It was all so sudden and new. But if she really wanted to branch out in her career as a journalist, she knew that she would have to get over her "fear" of cities. So now here she was, on a practice assignment of sorts, set to give a simple little interview about Ms. Lena Luthor, the new CEO of L-Corp. Kara could only hope that she wouldn't totally ruin the interview with her nerves. She really did want to broaden her horizons! But as a country (or small town) girl, big cities really were not her forte. They were too noisy, crowded, chaotic and confusing. It was only dumb luck she'd managed to find the subway at all, and it was even luckier that she'd found a kind city person to help her reach L-Corp. But the biggest luck of all in her mind, was that this woman was also an L-Corp employee. What were the odds? Kara could only hope this turn in fortune would carry on through until she could go back home to her quiet, sleepy little hometown of Midvale. National City was gorgeous, but it really wasn't her thing...

10 minutes later, Kara's guide stood up.

"This is our stop!" she declared and she led Kara up and out of the underground maze. What a relief it was for her to be able to see the sky again! She took in a deep breath as she felt the warm glow of the sun running through her hair and down her back.

"Glad to be out of there?" her guide teased her a little.

"Oh! Uhhh, yeah, I've, uhhh, just never been a fan of underground things, you know? Tight, crowded spaces and all of that," Kara mumbled, embarrassed at having been caught. Her guide gave her an amused smirk but said nothing else as she continued to weave her way expertly through the busy city streets, making sure that Kara never fell too far behind.

"I can tell you're not a city girl!" she remarked as she and Kara finally reached the doors to L-Corp.

"Nope, my first time," Kara admitted sheepishly. "I'm a bit more of a country girl myself," she confessed.

"Hmm! Interesting!" the woman replied, sounding sincere and not at all sarcastic or haughty. "I've never been to the countryside before!"

"Never?" now it was Kara's turn to sound amazed.

"Never," the woman replied seriously. "I've been a city girl all my life!" she said and Kara could only shake her head.

"I can't believe you've never seen a countryside before!" she murmured. "I wish I could show you around my hometown then!" she cried, but even she seemed to realize how weird that sounded and her more awkward side was quick to return.

"I mean, uhhh, thanks for showing me around," she said quickly, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I'm always happy to help," the woman replied with another fond smile that Kara got lost in once again.

But then the woman opened the door, gesturing for Kara to step inside. Kara thanked her again, goofy grin growing even larger, and then while the woman went towards an elevator on the far end of that main floor, Kara made a beeline for the receptionist's desk. She could only hope that this mysterious "Ms. Lena Luthor" would be half as understanding, kind and polite as that other woman had been. Fingers crossed!

Following a quick chat with the receptionist, Kara found herself headed up the same elevator her guide had ridden just a few minutes prior. With her was a new guide, a woman named Jess. She was Ms. Luthor's personal assistant.

"Wait here for just one moment," she requested as she and Kara stepped off the elevator and onto the very topmost floor of L-Corp. Kara gave her a weak smile in return and tried not to twiddle her thumbs too much as she watched Jess walk on ahead to alert Ms. Luthor to her presence.

"Ms. Luthor, Ms. Kara Danvers is here to do an interview with you," Kara heard Jess say. She did not hear Ms. Luthor say anything in response but she must've requested that Kara come in because Jess quickly turned back to her and waved her forward.

Kara gave Jess another weak smile, feeling her legs start to shake as she walked ever closer to Ms. Luthor's office door. Nerves were starting to get the best of her and she found herself terrified of what would wait for her beyond that office door. She hadn't even been able to catch a whisper of her voice because she'd addressed Jess so quietly. But with nothing else to do, Kara continued to walk forward until she was in the doorway to Ms. Luthor's office. She steeled her nerves, took one last deep breath, then poked her head inside. Her eyes and mouth went wide.

"You!"

"Yes, me," and amused smile, a familiar voice. Kara wasn't sure whether she wanted to laugh or panic, or both.

By the end of the interview, though, Kara felt much better. The butterflies in her stomach were the good kind now and she felt excited instead of nervous. Not only had the interview gone extremely well but Ms. Luthor, or as she'd requested that Kara call her, Lena, had also seemed quite interested in getting to meet up with Kara again soon.

"How long will you be in the city?" Lena asked as their interview came to a close.

"A week, maybe less," Kara replied. "The dates aren't set in stone, but now that I have this interview, I'm supposed to type up a manuscript to send in, and then I go back home and distribute it there as well."

"Will you be busy during the rest of your time here?" Lena asked next, an interested look in her eyes.

"Well, not all the time," Kara was suddenly nervous again, staring hard at the floor while Lena continued to stare deeply at her.

"If you have some free time, then, perhaps we could meet up again before you leave?" she asked and Kara had nearly had three heart attacks in response to this question. She managed to nod, smile politely and say yes, but internally, she was freaking out and doing a victory dance all at once. She could feel her heart pounding and her stomach churning as she reached out to shake Lena's hand and when they finally touched, Kara had to literally bite back a high-pitched and terrified giggle. To say that she was over the moon was an understatement.

The interview ended there, then, Lena politely leading Kara back to the elevator.

"You have my number, will you call me later tonight?" she asked as she handed Kara her business card.

"Absolutely," Kara promised, stomach still in knots as she tried not to jump when her and Lena's hands brushed together once again.

"Excellent!" Lena's eyes seemed to glow. "I will talk to you soon then!"

"You too!" Kara gave her a nervous and giddy smile in response, then the elevator doors shut. Kara wasn't sure if this relieved or disappointed her.

Kara and Lena both made good on their vows and over the course of the week, the two managed to squeeze in a couple brunches and dinners, Lena telling Kara all about city life. She talked about her life and how she viewed the city, but she also talked about the city in general, recounting its history and the way it operated. She was trying to give Kara a mental map of the city, explaining to her about all the tips and tricks she could use to help her survive the chaotic streets. Lena was a goldmine of information and helpful little ideas. She knew all the best and worst times to try and find restaurants or transit, she knew all the good and bad places to either avoid or try out, she knew how to handle crowds, rushes and time crunches and she knew who to talk to if she ever had a problem with anything.

"Wow!" Kara couldn't help but sigh in interest as Lena continued to offer up her mental map to Kara, describing all the buildings and streets and their relations to one another. But as dreamy as these "dates" with Lena were, the city life still proved a bit too much for someone like poor little Kara Danvers. She was courageous and spirited, but she was still very much a country girl at heart. There was just too much noise at all hours of the day and even though her hotel was fairly nice and soundproofed, getting to sleep every night was difficult.

"What the heck!?" she rolled over with a tired and frustrated sigh. It was 3:00 in the morning and someone's car alarm was blaring. It shut off after only about 20 seconds, but it had still woken Kara up. She growled in irritation, struggling to get back to sleep. Falling asleep in the first place at the beginning of the night hadn't been any easier because of all of the noise of the other hotel patrons. There were the loud footsteps from above, the shouting people in the hallway and all of the random people of the street who would occasionally scream or laugh, and the sound really carried quite well. It had taken Kara 45 minutes and three pillows to block out the noise enough to fall asleep for the first time, but after that car alarm woke her up, she knew with painful certainty that she probably wouldn't be getting back to sleep anytime soon...

And since Lena couldn't be around to act as Kara's guide all the time, this still left most of the navigating up to Kara. It was far easier said than done. Even though there were maps all over the city, including on Kara's phone, she still seemed to have the worst luck when it came to trying to find her way around. How many wrong streets and subways had she taken? How many addresses had she messed up? The worst was when it took her an extra _hour _to get where she wanted to go just because she kept getting turned around. The streets all looked the same and so did the buildings, so landmarks weren't always easy to come by and since the streets always seemed to be teeming with other people, it was all too easy to accidentally get swept up in a tide going the wrong way.

"You've got to be kidding me!" the young reporter complained as she found herself right back to where she had started. All she had wanted was some lunch! But with nothing else to do, she could only heave a defeated sigh and try again, trying not to get run over too many times by other city-goers who were not at all subtle in their disdain and annoyance for her. Her country side was painfully clear to anyone who saw her and some of the city-goers had no problem in showing how much they disliked her for being a stupid foreigner.

"It's not my fault!" she grumbled at her shoes as several businessmen roughly elbowed past her, one of them shooting her a very dirty glare. Her feet were so sore by the time that she reached her destination that the ability to sit down was even better than the food, in her opinion.

"Thank goodness!" she sighed as she sank into her seat, menu in one hand and water glass in the other.

But it wasn't even just the chaos of the city that Kara didn't like. It was also the danger. National City was a good city and had a relatively low crime rate, but that didn't mean it was 100% safe. Kara, herself, never suffered any sort of trouble like an attack or robbery, but she was constantly on guard when she walked around, especially at night and especially if she was in an emptier part of the city. Having come here alone, she had no one to protect her, should anything befall her. Her eyes were always peeled for even the slightest sign of danger and she was ever on the alert for suspicious activity. At one point, she was pretty sure she'd almost walked into a drug den, but she had turned around at the last second and saw neither drug dealer nor drug user, thankfully.

When the week finally ended, then, Kara was all too happy to be headed home. As beautiful and impressive as the city was, it was just too opulent and overwhelming for her. But even though Kara had no regrets about leaving the city behind, she really was unhappy at the notion of leaving Lena behind. Kara had become very fond of Lena over the course of their one short week together and she almost wanted to stay just so that she could continue seeing Lena every day. Lena was just so kind, funny, friendly, understanding, polite and conversational! Who couldn't help but fall in love with her? So Kara made sure to visit her one last time before heading back home to her little hometown of Midvale.

"Kara!" Lena smiled brightly as the young reporter walked shyly into her office again.

"Hey Lena," Kara replied with a sad smile.

"Is everything alright?" Lena noticed the tiny note of sadness in Kara's voice and was on the alert immediately.

"Yeah, everything's fine, I'm just leaving today and... well... I wanted to say goodbye," she admitted, suddenly looking shy once again as she walked over to Lena's desk. Lena, however, looked distraught.

"Has it really been a week already?" she asked sadly, but she knew it was true. "I will miss you greatly, Kara Danvers."

"I'll miss you too, Lena Luthor," Kara replied, finally meeting Lena's eyes again. She saw her own sadness reflected in gray-green.

For a moment, there was only silence, but then Lena finally rose from her desk and opened her arms a little.

"May I... May... I?" she asked, then it was her turn to look away in embarrassment. But that one little request was enough to make Kara smile. She opened up her own arms in return and did not hesitate to pull Lena into them, accepting the Luthor's warm embrace gladly. Lena tightened her arms around Kara and the two held on for several seconds, sighing sadly as they shared one final farewell hug. Once the hug finally came to an end, then, Kara's smile faded back into sadness and apology.

"Will you ever visit again?" Lena asked.

"Probably," Kara replied. "But I don't know when. It may be quite a while."

"Ah," Lena's face fell, but then a flicker of something danced in the back of her eyes. "If it will take you a while to come back to me, do you think you would ever be alright allowing me to come to you?" she dared to ask, clasping her hands together hopefully.

"Really?" Kara sounded as if she was hearing something too good to be true.

"I'm sure I can secure some vacation time in the next few weeks," Lena replied. "But only if you would be ok with it..." she amended, leaving the choice up to Kara, but in Kara's mind, it was not a choice at all.

"Of course!" she replied, brightening up considerably. "Come whenever you want! Just let me know what dates you were thinking about!" and then her own smile was reflected upon Lena's face as well.

Although their parting now was rather sad, now that both of them knew that the other was ok with Lena coming out to visit Kara, the hope of a reunion gave them both the power to smile once again. Kara had hoped that Lena would've offered to come visit her, but she hadn't dared to put too much stock in it until Lena proposed the idea herself. Now that she had confirmation that Lena did want to see her again (enough to the point that she was willing to travel down to visit Kara) Kara felt over the moon once more. She could tell that Lena felt the exact same way. Lena had been worried, at first, that Kara would've only said goodbye and left, but when Kara did seem to show more grief than expected in response to their parting, it had been enough to give Lena the courage to hope for a future visit and Kara's enthusiastic response to the idea made Lena heave a sigh of relief and complete and utter bliss.

"So this is not goodbye after all, is it?" Lena asked as she led Kara to the elevator one last time.

"With any luck, no," Kara confirmed with a smile.

"Then I look forward to seeing you again someday," Lena stuck out her hand.

"And I you," Kara replied, taking that hand and shaking it fondly. Then even after the elevator doors had shut, separating the two officially, they both continued to smile and think of one another long after Kara had left the city.

**AN: Like I said, here's the first chapter of the expanded version of the story. Also, this is somewhat based off my own experiences because while I'm not a country girl, I just went to NYC for the first time about a week ago (for World Pride and Stonewall's 50****th**** anniversary) and in the first few days, it was painfully clear that I had no idea what I was doing, LOL.**


	3. The Country

Kara and Lena both made good on their vows and, in time, Lena headed down south to visit Kara in her hometown of Midvale.

"This will be new," the Luthor murmured to herself as she steered her car away from the busy interstate and onto a small town road. In her many travels, she'd passed small towns and country sides before, but she had never stopped in them. This would honestly be her first time in a world outside of a busy city. After another hour or so of driving around on smaller, quieter roads, then, the Luthor finally found her destination.

"Quaint," she remarked with a small smile as she pulled her car up a dusty driveway. Although Kara had sent her pictures of the house before, to see it in person still made Lena laugh a little just because it was so very stereotypical of that sort of place.

As she pulled up, Lena's first sight was of, of course, the dusty driveway. Beside it was an old mailbox, slightly crooked, its red flag faded pink with time. Past the mailbox and driveway was the house itself. It was a small, old, wooden building, some of the white paint chipping off of it. Its shutters and door, like the rest of the house, were old and wooden and they, too, were starting to lose their paint. All around, there was nothing but grass in all directions, a few trees spotting the landscape here and there. There was one right beside the house, an old tire swing hanging from it.

Once Lena stepped out of her car, she walked up the creaky old wooden steps onto the porch of the house. At her feet was a dirty old doormat that used to read "welcome", but now half of the letters had since faded off. To her left and right both were rocking chairs, four in total. Just like the rest of the house, they were covered with bits of dust and peeling paint. After taking a few more seconds to smirk in amusement at how stereotypical the house looked, Lena knocked on the door. A second later, it was answered, but not by Kara. Instead, Lena was met with another woman who looked only slightly older than Kara. She had short brown hair and intelligent eyes, but it was her outfit that really caught Lena's. The woman wore worn denim overalls with a plaid shirt underneath. She had a piece of straw in her mouth and she held a ten-gallon hat in her hand.

"Y'all lookin' for someone?" she asked when Lena could only stare at her with wide eyes. Her southern drawl was thicker than molasses and Lena was torn between laughter and nervousness. For a moment more, she could only continue to stare at this other woman as she tried to think of a way to make a request for Kara without sounding rude or insensitive. She also began to worry, then, that maybe this wasn't even Kara's house at all! What if her GPS had led her astray? Service out in these kinds of places wasn't always the best. Was she at least in Midvale?! The thought that she might be in the wrong place mortified and terrified Lena beyond words, but she did her best to remain calm.

"Yes, I am here to see Ms. Kara Danvers?" she asked politely.

"Ah, Kara Danvers," the other woman grinned, eyes lighting up with recognition as she bit down on the piece of straw.

"You know her?" Lena asked, a small rush of relief washing over her. At least now she knew she was at the right house!

"'Course!" came the amused reply. "She's my little sister."

"Oh!" Lena's eyes brightened with interest. Kara hadn't mentioned a sister! "Is she available?"

"Well, she may be out back workin' in the fields. You know, tendin' to the farm and whatnot," Kara's sister continued to stare languidly at Lena and Lena gave her an uncomfortable smile back.

"Could you tell her that I'm here, please?" she asked, twiddling her thumbs.

"'suppose I could. Y'all wait right here now," Kara's sister instructed, but she had only just turned around when Kara herself appeared.

Kara had already been heading back to the house when she heard her sister speaking and realized that there could've only been one person that she was speaking to, Lena Luthor. And sure enough, as Kara drew closer and closer to the front door, she heard Lena's voice and her heart skipped several beats in excitement. For a moment, she had lingered in the shadows trying to compose herself, but then when it occurred to her what her sister was doing, her nervousness quickly changed into exasperated amusement. That was when she stepped out from the shadows.

"Alex!" Kara chided her older sister, but there was affection in her gaze nonetheless.

"Gah! Kara!" Alex yelped, southern drawl vanishing at once as she leapt backward, having not expected to see Kara standing right there, inches away from her. She dropped her hat and the bit of straw fell out of her mouth as she yelped in surprise. In response, Kara began to laugh, Alex's little façade ruined, but Alex pouted. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" she whined at her younger sister.

"Don't greet my guests like you're a stereotypical redneck farmer from the Deep South!" Kara shot back with a smirk as she elbowed past Alex.

"But we _are_ redneck farmers from the Deep South!" Alex argued, still pouting, accent absent now that it had been scared out of her.

"First off, we aren't _that _redneck," Kara teased. "And second off, Kansas isn't part of the Deep South!"

"It's close enough!" Alex shot back but Kara only gave her a fond eyeroll before turning her attention back to Lena, who was looking quite surprised and maybe even a little confused and embarrassed by the exchange she had just witnessed.

"Sorry about her," Kara gave Lena a sympathetic and reassuring smile. "Alex likes to be stupid sometimes. Or rather, most of the times," for a second, Kara's eyes darted playfully back over to the older Danvers who had since picked up her ten-gallon hat again and sat it defiantly on her head. But then Kara's face softened as she turned back to Lena once more. "How was your trip over?" and Lena felt much more at ease now that Kara was here. When Kara stepped aside and gestured for Lena to join her in the house, Lena no longer felt any reserves about entering the old wooden building and she felt herself physically relaxing the longer and longer Kara was there with her. It wasn't that this Alex girl had scared her, or anything, but because Kara herself did not have too much of an accent, to meet Alex with a full southern drawl had thrown the Luthor for a loop.

"Oh, nah, she was just being stupid," Kara repeated as she led Lena deeper inside. She paused to stick her tongue out at Alex again who shrugged unrepentantly as she followed them in.

"What can I say?" she asked, southern accent much, much lighter than before. "I've got to play the part for all of the _city folk_," she shot a dry grin at Lena and Lena suddenly looked sheepish.

"Don't worry about her," Kara repeated as she saw Lena looked embarrassed with herself. "We all have stereotypes about each other, so don't let her get you down!" and Lena brightened up again as Kara wrapped a friendly arm around her shoulder.

After that initial greeting, Kara took Lena on a short tour of the house. There really wasn't much to see because the house was relatively small, plain and simple. There were only two floors and the top one literally only consisted of a few bedrooms and one bathroom. Downstairs had a kitchen, living room and dining room. The real fun, Kara told Lena, was what lay on the outside.

"Oh, wow!" Lena murmured as Kara led her out the back door. From the angle Lena had driven up to Kara's house at, she had missed the large and sprawling farm behind the Danvers home. She had seen part of the pasture and some of the silo poking up in the distance, but standing on the back porch gave her a far better view. To one side, there was nothing but a sea of crops, and to the other, it was an endless field of grass where various farm animals grazed. Naturally, there was a large red barn, but that was further back.

"Sure is beautiful, isn't it?" Kara bragged, looking quite pleased with herself. She really did love the country! It was just so rustic, beautiful, peaceful and powerful. She wasted no time, then, in dragging Lena off the porch to show her around the rest of the farm.

For the entire rest of that day, Kara gave Lena a tour of the farm. It took far longer to cover than the house just because there was so much more to see. Lena hadn't realized it, but there were other buildings around the barn, including a cellar and something like a garage, where several trucks, carriages, tractors and other pieces of riding equipment were all stored. And of course, there were sheds for tools and animal care supplies. And not only that, but one building in particular acted as a hub of all of the other ones combined.

"Of course we can't run this farm entire by ourselves, so we have farmhands," Kara explained. "They stay here sometimes if they either can't, or don't want, to return home after a day here with us."

After that, Kara took Lena out to meet some of the other workers on the farm. Two of them were her parents, Eliza and Jeremiah Danvers, and several others were either friends or relatives from the surrounding area. One of these relatives, who was also visiting at the moment, was Clark Kent, Kara's cousin. He lived in a different part of the state (in a town called Smallville) and, thusly, didn't usually hang around the Danvers farm, but he had come up to visit Kara and was planning on heading out in a couple of days. His trip would overlap with Lena's for a little while.

"This house may be the only one in sight, but we aren't out in the middle of nowhere," Kara said as she led Lena through the line of farmhands. "Only a few miles in either direction there are several towns where we do most of our business. It's also where we get to contact the outside world and interact with other two-legged creatures," she added with a laugh. Lena took it all in with great interest. This was such a strange new world for her, a weird lifestyle, and an idea she had never even considered before.

Then, once Kara managed to finish showing Lena around the property, she brought the Luthor back inside for dinner. Because the Danvers had known that a city girl was going to be in their midst that night, they decided to serve up some of the more classic dishes of the south.

"Barbecue, sweet tea, fried green tomatoes, pecan pie and cornbread," Eliza announced as she laid the large spread out.

"You forgot the corn on the cob and the grits," Clark teased as he took a heaping portion of barbecue for himself.

"We also could've done fried chicken and cobblers," Alex agreed Clark passed her the barbecue.

"Oh, just hush up and eat," Eliza pretended to give them both disapproving frowns while Jeremiah and Kara laughed.

"You know, I never would say no to more sweets," Kara pretended to agree with Alex. Alex looked smug while Eliza only gave her a fond eyeroll. Lena, meanwhile, looked in awe of the food. It was quite a large meal and although Lena had been able to get this sort of fare in the city, there was something totally different about actually eating it from a southern kitchen. This wasn't just fast food or grocery store stuff or McDonald's sweet tea, this was the real deal.

After dinner, then, Kara, Alex and Clark (with Lena in tow, of course) headed back out to the farm.

"Where are we going?" Lena asked as Kara dragged her back out to the darkening farmland.

"We're going to do some late-night fishing!" Kara replied.

"Late-night fishing?" Lena echoed, sounding genuinely baffled.

"Oh, it's a lot of fun! Since we wait until it's dark out, the heat isn't as oppressive and there aren't as many people out on the lake!" Alex explained. They were all headed towards one of the buildings near the barn. They were headed to the garage. Parked inside were several large pickup trucks.

"Of course," a small flash of spirit returned to Lena's face as she observed the Danvers' mode of transport.

"You should've seen the one they used to have," Clark snickered as the Danvers sisters loaded their gear up in the truck. "The old one was bright red. At least this one is a more toned down silver," he patted the truck's rusting side and Lena was suddenly reminded of her own rather high-end car and how out of place it looked when compared to the pickup truck she was about to get in.

In the end, after a playful argument and a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors, it was agreed that Clark would drive while Alex, Kara and Lena would sit in the back, in the bed of the truck.

"What?" Lena almost squawked. "Is that safe?"

"Lena, it's late night and we're going to be driving down an empty road, we'll be fine!" Kara replied as she and Alex easily vaulted up the side of the truck and into the bed. In doing so, she missed Lena's worried look. If anything, driving down backroads at night made it even more risky to be riding (seatbelt-less) in the bed of a pickup, but when Kara leaned over the side with her hand outstretched to Lena, Lena felt her heart flutter and she couldn't help but accept the offer, gratefully taking Kara's hand as Kara pulled her up into the truck's bed as well. Even after she was safely inside, Kara releasing her again, Lena could still feel the warmth of Kara's hand for the entire drive over to the lake.

"Shall we show our city gal what kind of music we listen to?" Clark shouted back to his cousins and guest as he began to blast country music from the truck's radio. While Alex and Kara instantly began to belt along, southern twangs returning to their voices tenfold, Lena only watched in embarrassed amusement. She was instantly reminded of all the times she'd driven along the city roads only to sometimes get stuck in traffic beside cars full of teenagers who had all of their windows open, blasting the latest Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars or Beyoncé song from the radio.

"Yee haw!" Alex shouted at one point while Kara pretended to strum a guitar. Lena could only watch and laugh, unfamiliar with any of the songs, but more than entertained by watching the two sisters perform for her.

20 minutes later, the quartet reached the lake. It wasn't very big, but it was still a nice area. The quartet unloaded the truck before they headed over to a small building on the far side of the lake where the canoes, rafts and other boats were kept. Without further ado, then, Clark and Alex hopped into one canoe while Lena and Kara took another.

"Do you think we'll catch anything?" Lena asked as Kara rowed them both out to the center of the lake. Kara had asked if Lena wanted to try, but the Luthor had declined, having never gone canoeing before. She didn't exactly want to crash or overturn the boat, especially so late at night. So while Kara handled the steering, Lena held onto their lines and bait. The bait, she could not deny, grossed her out, but she tried not to let that show.

"Eh, I don't really know," Kara replied as she finally set the oars down. "But I'm really not in it for the fishing tonight."

"What?" at first, Lena was confused as to why Kara was out here at all if she had no real intention of trying to fish, but when she saw the meaningful look that the younger Danvers was giving her, she suddenly understood and the butterflies in her stomach picked up their speed.

For the next hour or so, while Clark and Alex were off doing whatever, Kara and Lena remained locked in conversation. Both of them had their lines in the water, but neither of them were really focused on fishing. Because of that, they didn't catch a single thing, but neither of them really cared, far more invested in one another than anything else at the moment. Then, once that hour was up, the crew headed home. At Lena's request, though, she sat in the front of the truck. To keep her company, Kara opted to be the one to drive home. She looked a little jealous that Clark and Alex were going to get to chill on the truck's bed, but she wanted to stay with Lena as long as possible, so she opted to give up a truck bed ride just once, in order to keep the Luthor company in the safety of the front seats of the pickup.

Once the group arrived home, then, they put their fishing stuff away and headed to bed. But that was where some of the magic ended for Lena. As nice as the first day had been, the night was a little bit more... lonely. It was hard to explain but even though Lena was in a nice warm bed in a house full of friendly people, there was something too sad and isolating that, for a time, Lena found herself unable to get to bed. She could only stare out the window up at the eerily big, bright, full moon and realize how very empty her world was at the moment. Nothing but nature for as far as the eye could see. No music floating gently up from the street below. No honking. No hustle and bustle of nightlife. No street performers. No rowdy youngsters parading up and down the streets. No car engines. No neon lights. No tall buildings to marvel at through the darkness. Nothing but emptiness and sky everywhere she looked. It was still a pretty sight, but Lena almost felt sad and lonely. From her apartment in National City, she had always been able to see other skyscrapers and lights shining through the darkness. She was never alone then, constantly reminded of all of the warm human life that surrounded her at all hours of the day.

Out here, though, far away from the city, there was nothing but silence. Silence and stillness. And to Lena, it was very eerie and terribly lonely. Where were all of the other people? The lights and sounds and smells? Why was everything so painfully quiet? Where was the gentle hum of city life and the gentle glow of the lights? Why was it like a ghost town here, nothing but endless darkness illuminated only by the tiny pinpricks of light that were the stars? But Lena did manage to get to sleep eventually and, mercifully, she slept straight on through the entire night.

The next morning, she woke up to the sound of a rooster crow. It was not a real rooster, however, but instead it was Kara, who had woken up before Lena and had been waiting for the Luthor to wake up. She was holding out a phone that was playing a loop of a rooster's call.

"What the-?!" Lena sat up groggily as she heard the rooster screaming in her ear.

"Good morning, Lena!" Kara replied cheerfully and Lena practically shot out of bed when she realized that Kara was standing inches away. From the doorway, there was more laughter. It was Alex.

"Told you the city girl would panic!" she declared.

"Yeah, I guess it is a little fun to be stereotypical sometimes," Kara replied as she finally shut her phone off, ending the rooster call.

"Ha ha, very funny," Lena frowned a little. Kara managed to look at least a little ashamed.

"Sorry," she said with a shrug. "I hope I didn't scare you too badly," and Lena found it impossible to stay annoyed when Kara was giving her such a cute and apologetic face.

"It's ok," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. Alex watched the entire scene unfold with a smirk.

The rest of the day was spent with Kara giving Lena a deeper look into country life. Lena had only gone through a very basic tour on the first day, so now she was getting more of an inside scoop. Kara led her around the farm, teaching her about all the crops and equipment that they had, and then she had the Luthor meet the animals. They had quite a few, including goats, cows, pigs, geese, sheep, chickens and a few horses.

"Do you ride them?" Lena looked a little intimidated by the horses. All of the other animals had either intrigued or disgusted her to some degree and she found it so strange to imagine that Kara lived with all of these other "pets" in such close proximity.

"Did you want to give it a try?" Kara replied with a playful and hopeful smile, but Lena was quick to turn down that offer. Just like with the canoes the previous night, the Luthor had no experience with horses and would've preferred to keep her own feet on the ground.

"They aren't that big though," Kara continued to try and plead. "A fall off of them won't break any bones or anything!"

"Aren't that big?" Lena echoed, looking up at the large beast standing before her. She was sure that even if a fall wouldn't be fatal, it still would be far from pleasant, and she was already shuddering at the idea of being thrown off and/or trampled. The horse's hooves looked massive in her eyes and she wondered what on earth Kara considered as big if she was able to look at this horse and insist that it wasn't too terribly large.

At one point, the horse huffed at Lena and she cringed a little as some of its spit landed on her face.

"Awww, he likes you!" Kara laughed, petting the horse's long face immediately. Lena looked a little less amused as she wiped off her face.

"I think I'll pass on the riding lessons," she muttered and Kara was forced to let it go.

"Maybe Alex and I will go later on then," she decided.

"Do you ride them often?" Lena asked, carefully stepping away from the horse's enclosure to avoid being nosed again.

"Of course we do!" it was Alex who answered, walking on by with a bucket of slop for the pigs. Lena tried not to stare it too hard. It smelled as ugly as it looked. "You have to remember that cowboys, or girls, are gay culture!" she added with a smirk.

"Wait, they're what?" Lena was a little surprised by this remark but Alex only gave her another teasing grin before she kept on walking along.

"I think it started with Brokeback Mountain," Kara replied, answering for Alex. Even though they all lived far out in the country, they weren't totally cut off from the rest of the world. They did have internet, phones and computers, so the world of memes was one that Kara and Alex were both very acquainted with. There were a lot of "yee haw" jokes and quite a large portion of them were also tagged under gay humor. For that reason, then, the Danvers supposed that cowboys had since become another queer symbol and, being who they were, both of them had been more than happy to go with it. (It beat listening to some of the more aggressive Bible Beaters down here in Kansas. Man could those guys be vicious!)

"Wait, Alex is-?" Lena asked.

"Yup," Kara replied serenely. "And she's got a pretty cliché girlfriend too," she added with a smirk. "She's dating one of the cops from the police department a few miles away. Maggie Sawyer is her name. Real nice girl, friendly and pretty too. But man do I love laughing at Alex for that. Of course she'd choose a gay cop. Cops and cowboys, or girls..." Kara trailed off, still laughing a little about her own joke. Lena, meanwhile, felt her heart skip a few beats. Although she was interested in learning about Alex, her mind was still stuck on the fact that Kara had worded it like they were both gay and Lena found herself subconsciously crossing her fingers...

Lena and Kara spent the rest of the day with the animals. As interesting as Lena found them, though, they wore her down. The chickens were rather loud and annoying and a few of them kept on trying to peck at her and the pigs were still kind of gross in her mind's eye. The goats were rather smelly and Lena could not deny that some of the larger ones unnerved her a little. She didn't know if it was natural or not, but they sometimes looked really angry and Lena knew for a fact that she did not one to be on a goat's bad side, especially if it had really large horns. But it wasn't just the animals that gave Lena grief. The bugs were rather vicious as well. Of course, the city had bugs and mosquitoes too, but Lena felt as if it was worse down here in the country than it had ever been up in National City. She'd even managed to get bitten a few times during the late-night fishing trip the previous night and man did those welts itch!

But it wasn't even just the living creatures on the farm that Lena had to deal with. It was also incredibly hot out and Lena began sweating her makeup off after a while. Even when she and Kara and all the others took a lunch break, retreating to the cool indoors, Lena had still been a hot and sweaty mess. Of course, she knew it was going to be hot, but this was insane! She was sure that she would melt at this rate! Even the city never got quite this hot, even on its hottest days!

"Welcome to farm life," Clark remarked when he caught Lena rubbing an ice cube on her neck and arms. Kara, meanwhile, watched with a laugh.

It was a very odd thing for Lena. A part of her was still rather interested in and enchanted by country life, just because it was so different from anything that she had ever known before. But at the same time, it was not an easy transition, and it wasn't always comfortable. A lot of the luxuries Lena had in the city that she used to take for granted were no longer at her disposal. Things were much farther away (Lena had been surprised to hear how nonchalant Kara was about having the local police department only being a few miles away. In National City, the local PD was only a few _blocks _away) and again, the heat and bugs were merciless. And it sometimes got a bit unnerving not to see any other houses nearby.

And Lena was still rather intimidated by all of the things farmers had to deal with. Namely, the larger or more aggressive animals, and all of their clattering, clanking machinery. The thresher and tractors had been quite the sight, in Lena's opinion, very loud and hefty and smoky, but Kara, Clark and Alex had wasted no time in scrambling on up into the drivers seats and engaging in a tractor race. It was the most redneck thing Lena had ever seen: three hotheaded young farmers racing tractors around a cornfield on a large swath of Kansas farmland. Lena did actually give tractor driving a swing herself, but she had found it incredibly cumbersome and difficult, not at all as smooth or easy to drive as a car or a cab.

"Forget your late night city street drag racing!" Alex had shouted over the roar of the tractors. "Country folk don't need fancy racers! Not when we've got cornfields and tractors!" this earned her a playful smack from Kara, who once again berated her for being so very stereotypical. Lena, meanwhile, had a knuckles-white grip on the wheel of the tractor. Even though it wasn't moving very fast, she was still worried that the rough and uneven ground would mess her up somehow and cause her to crash into something. Finally being able to dismount the tractor and feel her feet on solid ground once again had been a blessing to Lena, though she had needed help getting back down.

"I think I'm stuck!" she admitted embarrassedly. While Clark and Alex laughed up at her, Kara only reached up with a smile and Lena carefully, slowly, slid down the side of the tractor and into Kara's arms. But even after Kara had managed to set her back down on solid ground, safely away from the tractor, her arms had remained around Lena's waist for a little bit longer, not that either she or Lena really minded...

So when it came time for Lena to go home, her weeklong visit over, she really had no idea what to think. She was definitely glad to be headed back up north to the city and she had no regrets about leaving the loud, messy, sweaty life of a farm behind, but she really had come to enjoy her stay with the Danvers family and a new sort of loneliness entered her heart on the day of her departure. She would be surrounded by the sweet hustle and bustle of the city again, but Kara would no longer be there with her. Lena would no longer have to deal with hungry bugs, loud farm machinery or annoying farm animals, but she would have to deal with a friendless and family-less home. She would be able to go back to the world she was used to, but she would have to leave behind the one she had come to love while visiting. She would not wake up to Kara's smile in the morning, she would not spend the day with her hand in Kara's and she would not go to bed with Kara whispering a fond and gentle goodnight. She was trading one loneliness for another, it seemed, but she wasn't quite sure yet which was more unbearable: the isolation from the rest of the world, or a life without Kara Danvers in it?

"I will miss you," she admitted, actually feeling herself tear up at the prospect of having to go home again and leave Kara behind.

"We will visit each other again," Kara replied, but it sounded like she was trying to reassure herself just as much as she was reassuring Lena. Her own face and shoulders were lower than normal as she realized that she was no longer going to be able to see Lena all day every day. And even if they did visit one another, it probably wouldn't be any time soon. Kara didn't exactly have the money to afford another city trip and Lena didn't have the time to host her, or come back down to Midvale. She had a company to run, after all. So even if she could easily afford to bring Kara up to the city, she wouldn't be able to spend time with the Danvers anyway.

Their farewell embrace had been long and both of them did manage to keep themselves composed, but a very gloomy atmosphere followed both of them for the entire rest of the day after their departure.

**AN: In all seriousness, if any of these country stereotypes were offensive or inaccurate, please do tell me. I was just going off of stories that some of my country friends have told me, but like I said, I personally have no experience living on a farm or in the stereotypical country. **

**And yes, again, there are some liberties with the canon. I know Midvale is supposed to be right outside Metropolis, but here it's down in Kansas a few ways away from Smallville.**


	4. The Suburbs

In all the years to come, both Lena and Kara made their best efforts to see one another as often as possible, but it really wasn't all that easy. Even though Lena had more than enough money to fund any and all of their trips, sometimes what she needed the most was the one thing money could not buy: time. She simply could not take time off of her busy schedule at work to visit Kara.

And Kara was in the same boat. She may not have been the CEO of a giant corporation, but that didn't mean she was any less busy. The entire reason she'd gone to the city to meet Lena in the first place was because she was studying to be a journalist. Of course, her small town had a few places for her to work, but it had always been her dream to expand her horizons beyond that sleepy little town of Midvale. Her assignment on Ms. Luthor had just been to give her a taste of the proper city life. Although Kara had since decided that it wasn't quite the life for her she did continue to pursue a career in journalism, and that was no small feat.

And then of course, there was always work to be done on the farm. Even if the Danvers had plenty of outside help on that, Kara's was always welcomed. As such, she didn't that much more free time than Lena. Even if both of them had the resources to visit one another, or bring each other to visit them, there just wasn't the time to entertain a guest. But even so, Kara and Lena did keep in very close contact with one another, making it a priority to call at least once a week and to text in all the free time they had in between.

_Kara: How are you?_

_Lena: I'm good. It's been a bit busy here at L-Corp, but we're managing. _

_Kara: Good. _

_Lena: How's the farm been?_

_Kara: Same old, same old. Alex nearly crashed a tractor yesterday, but that was the most exciting thing to happen this week._

_Lena: Crashed a tractor!? What happened?!_

_Kara: Maggie came to visit.  
_ Both women paused to laugh at their phones. Lena had finally been able to meet Ms. Maggie Sawyer on one of her trips down to Midvale and it didn't take her longer than two seconds to realize how smitten Alex was with the cop. It didn't surprise her, then, to hear that Alex would've almost crashed a tractor, whether it be from excitement or not keeping her eyes focused on the path ahead of her, because of Maggie. To be quite honest, it was something Lena, herself, felt that she might've done had she been in Alex's place and Kara in Maggie's.

Even though the two had been friends for a few years now, Lena still wasn't quite sure where she and Kara stood. She knew that she felt a very strong attraction towards the reporter-in-training, but she didn't know how reciprocated that feeling was, nor did she know if her own feelings were romantic or not. Perhaps it sounded silly, but it was not entirely Lena's fault. Her love life hadn't exactly been that long or good or filled with little tips and tricks that she could learn from. Instead, it had been dismally empty, when it hadn't been rife with drama. So she really wasn't quite sure how she felt about Kara, or how Kara felt about her. Lena was a brilliant mind, but constantly second-guessing both of their feelings.

But even if Lena had been able to say, with 100% certainty, that she and Kara were both in love with one another, Lena still didn't know if or when there would be a good time to start up a romantic relationship. Of course Lena knew that long-distance relationships were a thing, but at the same time, it felt so strange for her to think about having a romantic partner who lived hundreds of miles away from her. And not only that, but as close as they had become with all of those visits back and forth to one another, Lena still didn't know if Kara considered her a member of the family. Sure, one might be able to say that of course Kara had feelings for Lena, because why else would Kara be so insistent upon all these back-and-forths? But once again, Lena's second-guessing reared its ugly head and she continually wondered if Kara's insistence upon their visits wasn't anything more than simple friendliness, classic southern hospitality. Besides, the visits were never longer than a week at a time, so in all the time the Lena and Kara had known one another, the two had probably still only spent slightly less than a year in the same place at the same time. Could that still be enough to be considered romance?

So Lena remained in that slightly awkward, slightly uncomfortable limbo of wondering what her relationship with Kara was really supposed to be when Kara finally came to her with an interesting proposal.

_K: How are you?_

_L: Good, and you?_

_K: Missing you._

_L: Awww, I miss you too._

_K: When will you be able to visit again? Or when will I be able to visit you?_

_L: I don't know. Things haven't been too bad over here at L-Corp, but at the same time, I can't just keep taking time off whenever things get quiet._

_K: I know, I know, and I'm sorry to bug you. I don't mean to sound like a bother._

_L: Not at all! Never! You know I enjoy our visits just as much as you! I just mean that I don't know when the next time we'll be able to meet will be._

_K: Well, Alex did suggest we try and meet halfway at some point. You know? She said that instead of either of us going the full distance to see the other, maybe we should try to find a nice little town somewhere in between our two locations and just spend some time there instead._

Hmmmm. It was an interesting idea. Lena paused and put down her phone, considering the idea. It would cut travel time down for both of them and of course, Lena had more than enough money to afford any hotel that they stayed at for as long as they wished. Maybe that could actually work! But then one question remained...

_L: Did you or Alex have any particular towns in mind? _

In the end, that answer was no, but the Luthor and Danvers did manage to work something out. There was indeed a nice little suburbia about halfway between Midvale and National City and while it wasn't usually anyone's idea of a vacation location, it was still a nice area with some fun things to do around the town. With a goal in mind, the next time the pair could take off from work, they met in the middle.

"Well, isn't this place quaint?" Lena smirked as she pulled up at the hotel's parking lot.

"It's a much easier drive," Kara smiled as she did likewise, the two of them embracing tightly. "It's so good to see you again!"

"Same to you, it's been far too long, I've missed you!" Lena agreed, then together, the two of them checked into their room. Being Lena Luthor, had of course gotten them the biggest and fanciest room of all.

"A bit excessive, don't you think?" Kara smirked as she and Lena took a quick search of their new home for the next seven-ish days.

"Only the best for you," Lena replied, laughing, as they both set their bags down and got ready to unpack.

Once the initial move-in was completed, the pair went out to dinner. They chose a nice little diner closer to the center of town. It was nothing half as fancy or crowded as a city joint or diner, but it certainly was no backwater breakfast place either.

"It's a nice little compromise, a nice little meet-in-the-middle," Kara decided as she and Lena slid into their booth together. Instead of sitting across from one another as two friends usually did when going to eat out together, Kara had slid right in until she and Lena were nearly shoulder to shoulder. Lena looked surprised by such a gesture but Kara missed her wide-eyed look and only looked quite content to snuggle up right beside the Luthor. It made Lena smile and she chose not to question it. Instead, she chose to question everything else Kara had been up to over the past few months since the last time the two of them were able to meet face to face.

"Tell me," the Luthor pleaded. "How has life in the country been?"

"Just as typical as your city life," Kara replied teasingly, but then she obliged to keep Lena updated on all that had happened.

Among other things, several of the new farm animals that had been born earlier that spring were doing quite well now.

"That odd little space in time between spring and summer is always the most hectic," Kara confessed as she gave a dry smile, thinking about all the new little animals they had running around the farm. "We were lucky not to lose too many of them this year, but it's still not easy looking after so many babies!" she said, then she pulled out her phone to show Lena some of the farm's newest additions. How long they would remain was up for debate, but at the time being, they were all doing quite well.

"Awww," Lena smiled fondly at the photos, laughing at one which showed Alex and Kara holding up a baby goat together and posing in the famous "Lion King" stance. Lena may not have been too fond of the noisy and smelly farm animals when she was forced to be up close and personal with them, but on Kara's phone, they looked quite loveable.

Then it was Lena's turn. Although she didn't have any cute photos like Kara, she did have some good news to report.

"Like I told you last time, L-Corp's been relatively busy, but that's because some of our newer devices are in quite high demand," she said, then she launched into a rather long and complicated spiel citing facts, charts, graphs, numbers and stocks. Not a single word of it made sense to Kara, but she looked enchanted just to hear the Luthor speak. She managed to glean, from all the confusing terminology and calculations, that L-Corp was flourishing this year and that thought alone made Kara smile. She was glad to know Lena was doing so well. If there was anyone out there who deserved good business and good fortune, it was Lena, in Kara's opinion.

Once dinner was finished, the two drove over a river a few miles east. It was what separated the town from the city. The place they'd landed in really was a suburban area with something halfway between a city and a country, but there was an official city just across the bay.

"I think I'd rather stay here though," Kara confessed with a sheepish smile as she and Lena stood on the walking bridge halfway between that city and the town they'd come from. Lena chuckled softly, knowing that the crowded life of a city was still not Kara's cup of tea, and she agreed. They did cross to the other side, but the moment they reached that bank of the river, they turned right back around and headed to the townie area again. It was still more crowded than Kara was used to in her country home, but it wasn't anywhere near as crazy as a city. It was a nice little balance. There was still plenty of farmland in that town, but it wasn't as out in the middle of nowhere as Midvale was. Kara no longer needed to drive that far away in order to reach the nearest store.

Lena, meanwhile, found something quite serene and charming about it all, just like Kara had. It had enough hustle and bustle to keep her happy and stimulated, but it was nowhere near as loud or bright as the city. It got dark and quiet at night, but there was still signs of life everywhere even after most of the town had gone to bed. The occasional car still passed by and Lena could still see streetlights and store lights. It was not like on the Danvers farm where the farm was the only visible are of life, but it was much quieter than the city. Although it felt weird for her to have to drive everywhere instead of walking or taking a subway, travel time was never too long in any direction and there were a few buses that ran around the edge of the town if one was trying to get into the city across the river.

Without even meaning to, the couple began to fall in love with the little town just because it managed to balance them both out so well. They found things that they each liked personally, and they found things that the other liked as well. It was perfect blend of city and country.

"We should do this more often!" Kara murmured happily one evening as the two chose to dine on the riverbank with a little picnic. True, it wasn't exactly Eliza and Jeremiah's home cooking, but it was still nice to be able to eat out under the setting sun.

"Definitely! Please thank Alex for me when you get home. This was a marvelous idea!" Lena agreed, leaning up against Kara as the two of them looked over the river. Kara's lips twitched upward as she thought about her sister. Although she had, initially, been reluctant to try and ask Lena out on such a private and personal visit (it was just the two of them here after all. None of Kara's family and none of Lena's business friends were here to bother them), Kara knew she would be forever grateful for having taken Alex's advice in doing so.

"Why don't you two just take some private getaway somewhere?" Alex had demanded tiredly as Kara continued to look longingly down at her phone. Whether she knew it or not, she'd been pining for the Luthor all day and Alex was starting to find it all a little annoying, when she didn't find it kind of funny. She wasn't sure if Kara and Lena had made their relationship official yet, but as far as Alex was concerned, the two were a couple. The way Kara stared at Lena, or her phone if Lena was not able to be physically present with them, was the exact same way Alex stared at Maggie, and Alex wasn't the only one to nearly crash something because she was distracted by the woman of her dreams. Kara, herself, had almost crashed their pickup when Lena made an impromptu call saying that she had been able to snag some time off of work earlier than expected.

And not only that, but in all the times Alex did get the chance to see Lena, it seemed apparent to her that the Luthor was mad for the younger Danvers. All the held gazes, the lip bites, the soft looks, the lingering stares, the hopeful smiles, the slight frowns whenever Kara wound up talking to another farmhand instead of her. It screamed "gay" and Alex seriously hoped that Lena knew. Even she and Maggie hadn't been quite that bad when they were first starting up their relationship. So when Kara would not stop moping about being unable to see Lena in person, that was when Alex finally suggested they meet in the middle. This wasn't just her way of trying to help find Kara a nice middle ground for herself and Lena, it was also her way of trying to get the two alone together. As Kara, herself, had noted, if she and Lena were to meet up between their two homes, it meant that both of them would finally, truly have one another alone. There would be no more farmhands or business suits to keep either of them busy. It would just be the two of them. And Alex was hoping against hope that that would finally be enough to get the two lovebirds to finally realize how in love they were with one another.

"And I swear that if Kara comes home single, I'm going to personally drive her up to National City and break into L-Corp if I have to!" the older Danvers decided, earning a laugh from her girlfriend.

"I'm pretty sure breaking and entering is a crime," she reminded Alex.

"Well, the city isn't your jurisdiction," Alex replied, sticking her tongue out playfully.

"But you could still be caught, returned to the city, and tried there," Maggie argued, laughing.

"Come on! You can't tell me that the Luthor-Danvers tension isn't driving you up the wall!" Alex pretended to cry in despair and Maggie couldn't help but agree. Although she, too, had been tentative when she and Alex first started dating, at least she realized what her feelings were. Kara and Lena both seemed to be stuck in that pre-crush phase where they were either unaware of their feelings, or unwilling to acknowledge them, but not quite able to full dismiss them.

"Fine," the policewoman agreed. "I'll even help you kidnap Kara if that's what we need. I can give you a police escort to the city!"

"You can really do that?" Alex sounded genuinely surprised.

"Well, probably not," Maggie admitted. "But it's not like anyone's going to stop me. At least not until we get too far out of Midvale. But by then, I won't be stopping for anybody."

"I like the way you think, Sawyer," Alex chuckled. "I can see why we became girlfriends!" and Maggie's only reply was to kiss Alex sweetly.

That had been where Alex's plan for Kara and Lena to meet up in suburbia had come from. Now, it was happening. Alex could only keep her fingers crossed that the two lovestruck idiots would actually figure it out before the trip came to an end. Alex really didn't feel like driving all the way over to National City, but she promised that she would if Kara didn't come home proclaiming that Lena was now her girlfriend.

"Come on, Kara, come on! Don't let me down!" Alex whispered to herself, and her wish was finally granted.

On the second to last day before Kara and Lena would've parted ways, the two did finally share their first kiss. They chose to visit the walking bridge again and it had been during that little evening romp that Kara finally confessed how happy Lena made her and how sad she felt every time the Luthor had to depart from her life again. She had only meant this as a platonic declaration of love, but hearing her say it woke something up within Lena and it was Lena who took it from there and finally brought out the romance that had been so deeply hidden away. The thing that both of them had considered but never really addressed finally came to light. From Lena's own troubled romance life and from Kara's inexperience, the suggestion of a relationship finally emerged.

As Lena listened to Kara talk about how happy she made her, Lena finally began to realize the same thing. Lena loved Kara. Lena cared deeply for Kara. Lena liked spending time with Kara and she liked seeing and talking with her too. She always looked forward to every visit and she always enjoyed every day they spent together. Sure, it wasn't always smooth sailing, and sure, there were always some mistakes and reserves on both sides, but overall, Lena greatly enjoyed Kara's company. Kara made her happy. Kara made her feel safe and loved. Kara made Lena forget all of her woes, and Lena loved the feeling of that. She wanted Kara to stay. She wanted Kara to come with her. She wanted Kara in her life. She wanted Kara to be there for her all the time, instead of just once every few months or so. Kara made her so indescribably happy.

Without even realizing it, Kara had become the one Lena wanted most to have in her life. She became one of the most important things in the Luthor's life. She became the person that Lena wanted to spend the rest of her days with. Of course, it was far too early to be talking weddings and families, but it was definitely long overdue to talk about romance and relationships.

"Did you want to give it a try?" the Luthor asked breathlessly, hopefully. This idea that she had previous discarded, the idea of a long-distance relationship, was suddenly coming back to life right before her very eyes.

"I would," Kara replied, but she had slightly misunderstood Lena's question. She had thought that Lena had been referring to the idea of the two of them having their first kiss together, since that was where the conversation had been headed up to that point. Thinking that Lena had been asking for a kiss, then, Kara leaned in and pressed her lips to Lena's. That was not at all what Lena had had in mind, but it was a happy misunderstanding, in her opinion, and it didn't take her too long to recover and reciprocate, suddenly kissing Kara just as sweetly as Kara was kissing her.

From then on, it finally became official, and the two spent their final days in the suburbs as a couple.

"It sucks to think we've only just begun and we already have to stop," Kara remarked as she and Lena simply took a drive around several of the neighborhoods in town. Kara had one of her hands resting on Lena's leg.

"We won't stop," Lena replied gently, though she understood why Kara looked unhappy, despite the progression in their relationship. "We'll just enjoy every last minute that we do have together and we'll go on from there. Besides, I really do think your sister was on to something here. I think that if we continue to meet up here, I can afford to visit more often," the Luthor suggested and Kara brightened up in response to that idea.

So when the two lovers parted at last, not leaving without quite a few more kisses, they were already planning on when they would be able to meet up again. Then even after the two had parted, each driving back to her respective home, they were already chanting a date in their heads, the next time that they would be able to see one another again. That little suburban town was going to become their new favorite meetup place for sure.

"Thank god!" Alex cried when Kara stepped through the door, making the big and happy announcement that she and Lena were finally entering into a relationship. Their parents looked pleased while Maggie playfully shot off some rainbow confetti at the younger Danvers.

"Now we have one more soldier to help us fight in the war against the Bible Beaters," the Sawyer joked.

"I was already a soldier for that!" Kara cried as she dusted some of the confetti from her shirt.

"Yeah, as an ally," Maggie snickered. "But now we've got you as an official gay!" and while the rest of the family laughed, Kara gave them all a sheepish smile, the feeling of Lena's lips suddenly returning strong in her memory. The suburbs were quickly becoming her new favorite place...

Several years later, Kara and Lena took one final visit to the suburbs together. The reason it was their final visit was because they were not planning on leaving again after entering. That was right, the two had finally opted to move in together in that nice little town/city. For a time, the two made that area their new meetup, but as time passed, the two grew closer and closer until the question of marriage and family did finally begin to pop up in all of their discussions. From that very first time, when Kara suggested a more permanent residence and Lena suggested marriage, the two began to plan. It was only a joke at first, a playful idea that they could just settle down in the suburbs and call it a day, but with each passing day, that idea became more and more appealing. It then became their goal to make it more and more plausible as well.

It took quite a while, but they did finally mange to make that dream a reality. Kara finally decided to leave her family's farm and move into the suburbs. Taking her family's blessing, she left Midvale one last time and met up with Lena on the edge of their new home. Kara already knew she would miss her wide-open country life, but a life with Lena was worth so much more than that, in her mind. Besides, the suburbs did still have quite a bit of wide open space if one knew where to look, and there was enough land that a few neighbors did own some farm animals. Kara did briefly wonder how hard it would be to convince Lena to allow her to buy some chickens, or maybe a couple of goats, or even a cow or horse. She was sure Lena wouldn't be too thrilled by the idea, but a country girl could dream!

Lena had done likewise, managing to secure a CFO to her company while she was away. It was a close friend of hers named Samantha Arias. Lena, herself, would still be the big boss in charge of L-Corp, but she had decided to run things from behind the scenes, spending more time with Kara than anywhere else. She was still ready to visit National City and its L-Corp at a moment's notice, but she would no longer be walking through those glass doors every single day. That duty now fell upon Sam's shoulders, but it was one that she took up quite willingly.

Sam had been a friend of Lena's since very early on in L-Corp's history and she had seen how affectionate and soft the Luthor became whenever the Danvers was in the picture, so when Lena finally came to her, asking if she wanted to take over the company while Lena moved out to the suburbs to be with Kara, Sam had been quick to agree.

"I can see how much you two love one another and I can see how happy you two get when you're together. If anyone deserves that kind of life, it's you," the Arias had told the Luthor, and then the deal was set. While Sam would run L-Corp right from its main base of operation, Lena would take a more backseat control. So with her city life wrapped up, Lena took one final look back before driving back down to that place where she and Kara had shared their very first kiss. It was her hope that they would be able to get married there, but first, they were going to focus on just moving in together. The wedding could wait. It didn't look like anything in their relationship was going to change any time soon, so there was no rush there.

In time, then, the Luthor and Danvers set up a permanent establishment in that suburban area and Lena did finally concede that she wouldn't mind if Kara had a few farm animals, just as long as she didn't try to recrate what she had in Midvale.

"Don't worry! I won't!" Kara grinned as she one day came home with all the supplies needed for a chicken coop. Alex would be so proud of her!

"Oh boy," Lena cringed to herself, but watching Kara happily get to work in the massive space of empty land behind their house made her smile.

Lena, meanwhile, was quick to try and find herself a new place to work from. Of course she was going to work from home, but at the same time, she still wanted to expand. She wasn't any more content with the idea of staying cooped up at home forever than Kara had been. While Kara managed to secure a job at a media outlet while Lena worked on possibly trying to get an L-Corp building in the city across the river. If that was too lofty of a goal, however, Lena was more than content with searching other, similar jobs in the area.

Once that was all finished, then, the two finally had their wedding. Just as planned, it was held right there on the riverfront, in that strip of land between the city and suburbs, and all of their family and friends managed to show up. Among others, there were the Danvers (Maggie now officially part of the clan, having married Alex only a year prior), the Kents, some of the Danvers' farmhands and their families, and the Ariases. It was a romantic wedding with plenty of tears and kisses to spare. Then right there, the walking bridge in the backdrop, the Luthor and Danvers finally merged their surnames right as they merged their lips.

"It's about time!" Alex tried to sound exasperated, but her voice broke halfway through the sentence and Eliza and Maggie both threw her an affectionate glance, which she tried to brush off.

From that day forward, in all the years to come, Kara and Lena lived happily together in the suburbs. It had just enough of what each of them liked in order for them to truly feel at home. The years came and went, but their happiness never changed. Lena continued to rule L-Corp from behind while Kara's career as a journalist flourished. The city mouse and the country mouse had finally found the one place both of them liked and now, they would never have to part again. That, in both of their minds, was the best part of all.

**AN: Sorry it took me so long to get this last chapter out, I've been busy this week. But anyway, here's the happy, sappy conclusion. The city and country mice find common ground in the suburbs and they all live happily ever after (sickeningly sweet, am I right?) LOL. Once again, I apologize for any geographical inaccuracy. Hope you all enjoyed! **

**BTW, the suburb was sort of inspired off of my own hometown. We aren't exactly a small town, but we aren't a city either (though there is a city about half an hour away). And yes, some of my friends do own farms and farm animals, so we do have a place where a city and farm can coexist in relatively close proximity. It would be perfect for this AU of SuperCorp! **


End file.
